Well that was fast (Mini price drop at Amazon)

But what's the alternative? TiVo is the only decent DVR system for cable that's out there. It shows how small the market is too, as there is so much that TiVo is so far behind in, yet they don't have the competition to whip their butts into motion. I'd love to see a competitor to really knock it out of the park, but there probably isn't a big enough market for them.

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The new 6 tuner infiniTV 6 with Windows Media Center and WMC extenders (XBox, Echo, etc) is an alternative. And there are no lifetime or monthly fees. That is what kept me from staying with TiVo this time.

Just because they discontinued development doesn't mean they discontinued support. They still sell licenses too. The product is already mature, has a great full HD GUI and pretty stable, which is tough to say for these other solutions.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the TiVo P4 and two minis I had, but I couldn't in good conscience spend an extra $697 just for lifetime services. (P4 LT $399, mini LT $149 x 2 = $697) when I could get the same if not better results with the PC WMC WH DVR solution.

Too each their own. I had an HTPC for a while and didn't really care for the MCE UI. Plus if you look at it objectively and build a complete HTPC system from scratch, plus two XBoxes or Echos, the price difference compared to TiVo isn't that much. And if you consider how much more power an HTPC will draw compared to a TiVo in the long run you're probably not saving much at all.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved the TiVo P4 and two minis I had, but I couldn't in good conscience spend an extra $697 just for lifetime services. (P4 LT $399, mini LT $149 x 2 = $697) when I could get the same if not better results with the PC WMC WH DVR solution.

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Out of curiosity, what was the hardware cost for your PC WMC WH DVR solution?

Out of curiosity, what was the hardware cost for your PC WMC WH DVR solution?

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I ran some quick calculations on Amazon and, starting from scratch, you can build an HTPC with 4 tuner Ceton card for about $700. If you really bargain hunt you might be able to do it cheaper. And of course if you already have parts to use, or a license to Windows, then it would be even cheaper.

Out of curiosity, what was the hardware cost for your PC WMC WH DVR solution?

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Well not taking into consideration what I already had and would have had regardless (Xbox for son, HP quad core PC, DirecTV DECA) I bought the new infiniTV6 $299, another used XBox $125 and an HP X280n for $90.

I ran some quick calculations on Amazon and, starting from scratch, you can build an HTPC with 4 tuner Ceton card for about $700. If you really bargain hunt you might be able to do it cheaper. And of course if you already have parts to use, or a license to Windows, then it would be even cheaper.

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Gesh, I just googled around regarding the extenders.

If the wikipedia page is correct, it looks like market support for MCE is pretty much gone already.

So a new, supported MCE extender is either $179 (Echo) or $199 (Xbox)?

Picked up two Mini's at Best Buy last night and they matched the price drop. Sweet. I used the saved 24.00 to buy the 4-year extended warranty for $19.99. Only brought one warranty, since the warranty is not attached to any Mini in particular. I guess if both Minis malfunction, I'm screwed.

It's pretty easy to build a 4-tuner HTPC with a couple of extenders (used Xbox slims or Linksys DMA2100s) for $900 or so. An equivalent lifetime XL4 + 2 Mini setup would be $1300, and as you go past 2 extenders the HTPC is way cheaper because the used extenders are readily available for $100 or less. You would have new Minis vs. used PC extenders of course.

It's pretty easy to build a 4-tuner HTPC with a couple of extenders (used Xbox slims or Linksys DMA2100s) for $900 or so. An equivalent lifetime XL4 + 2 Mini setup would be $1300, and as you go past 2 extenders the HTPC is way cheaper because the used extenders are readily available for $100 or less. You would have new Minis vs. used PC extenders of course.

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Interesting.

To me it looks like a MCE WHDVR solution (with used extenders) has a cheaper startup cost compared to TiVo, but TiVo (if you can sell your equipment 5-7 down the road for near the cost of Lifetime) might be the same cost (or a little less expensive) in the end.

Don't forget about power. A TiVo XL 4 draws about 19W and a Mini only draws about 6W. Even a low power HTPC will draw about 40W and an XBox 360 draws about 175W. The Ceton Echo is on par with the Mini drawing about 6W.

If you consider that then an HTPC will probably cost you an extra few dollars per month compared to a TiVo.

It's pretty easy to build a 4-tuner HTPC with a couple of extenders (used Xbox slims or Linksys DMA2100s) for $900 or so. An equivalent lifetime XL4 + 2 Mini setup would be $1300, and as you go past 2 extenders the HTPC is way cheaper because the used extenders are readily available for $100 or less. You would have new Minis vs. used PC extenders of course.

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What's the HTPC worth in 3-4 years? Those tivos probably still worth $600 or more.

Thats mainly why I did it a few years ago. Because I like to tinker. But in practice I didn't care for the UI so it got very little use. Eventually I dismantled it and used the parts to build a computer for my Sister.

Don't forget about power. A TiVo XL 4 draws about 19W and a Mini only draws about 6W. Even a low power HTPC will draw about 40W and an XBox 360 draws about 175W. The Ceton Echo is on par with the Mini drawing about 6W.

If you consider that then an HTPC will probably cost you an extra few dollars per month compared to a TiVo.

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Don't forget that HTPCs can sleep when not in use, and the Xboxes have WOL capability to wake them up when you want to watch something. The power use of a sleeping PC vs. a Tivo is probably in favor of the PC overall, but the Xboxes are going to draw a lot more when in use.

Power really isn't the main issue here, it's how you like the experience of WMC vs. Tivo. I have both and prefer using Tivo, personally, but I don't have any Minis yet and won't until I can get one for less than $200.